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Located in Oro Province, Papua New Guinea, Higaturu Station is a place marked by multiple intersections of violence. Originally established as an Australian colonial headquarters, in 1943 it was the site of execution of 21 local Orokaiva men convicted – by the Australian administration – of treason during the Second World War. Eight years after the executions, the nearby Mount Lamington volcano erupted, killing thousands and devastating Higaturu. Today the place remains uninhabited but laden with memory and meaning, a site of ambivalent moral reckonings both with the colonial past and with the postcolonial present. These moral reckonings, in turn, intersect with peoples’ experiences of, and hope for, ‘development’. In Oro Province, history is becoming a resource – not unlike gold, or the oil palm plantations that extend across the landscape – which might attract outsiders, and with them forms of wealth and possibilities for realising the good life. Accordingly, Higaturu landowners work to attract outsiders to the site of the eruption and the hangings. At the same time, however, they worry that the outsiders they attract – including anthropologists – will exploit and profit from their history in the ways that so many outsiders have profited from the Province's other resources. Commercial considerations inform these hopes and worries, but the mobilisation of history-as-resource also speaks to other concerns, including about the relationships of insiders and outsiders across time, and the proper attributions of guilt, responsibility, and entitlement within colonial and postcolonial landscapes of remembrance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The present position paper provides an account of the life of Martha Entwistle, the earliest recorded convict nurse who worked within the Castle Hill Asylum. In our review of primary historical sources, Australia's first convict mental health nurse was found to be a resilient woman who endured several traumatic life experiences. Her nursing within Australia's first mental health asylum was highly valued by the superintendent of the service. She nursed in a harsh colonial environment, short of adequate resources, during an era of fast‐paced industrial and technological a change. Martha Entwistle's experiences provide a historical account of the role of the early convict mental health nurse. Her life story enables modern‐day nurses to reflect on the advances made in mental health nursing and contexts of care for nurses today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Each year, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees publishes detailed information on refugee applications and determinations by States Parties to the Refugee Convention. However, there are noticeable gaps in the utility and availability of these figures across jurisdictions prior to the mid-1990s, particularly with respect to Australia. This has limited our understanding of how refugee status determination functioned in Australia during the formative years of its modern refugee policy, from 1977 to the early 1980s, and it leaves researchers with little knowledge of the number and provenance of asylum-seekers coming to Australia during this time. The present article contributes to a body of literature that gauges possible political influences on the determination of protection claims. This article reveals previously unpublished data on protection claims in Australia between 1978 and 1983 under Australia's first formal refugee status determination procedure, the interdepartmental Determination of Refugee Status Committee. The article shows that at times there was some discrepancy between the views of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Department of Foreign Affairs on conditions in countries of origin. Information supplied by the Department of Foreign Affairs informed Determination of Refugee Status Committee deliberations, and there is evidence to suggest that at times there were issues with the quality and objectivity of this information. Finally, there is evidence that on a very small number of occasions external political and strategic interests informed deliberations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recent archival discovery reveals that around four hundred visas were issued to students from China to study in Australia from 1920 to 1925. This article explains and explores the significance of this little-known initiative under the White Australia Policy by reference to China's global resurgence, the role of the Chinese consulate-general in local community affairs, and support and resistance among Chinese community leaders in response to these developments. It highlights a paradox associated with the students' arrival, specifically the Melbourne publication of fabricated ‘Chinese letters home’ at a time when literate students were writing personal letters to their families and friends in China about their impressions of Melbourne, their understanding of local labour and gender relations, and their engagement with the big political and business issues of the day. The recently-released letters and papers of a contemporary student, Joe Tong, tell an untold story of Chinese Australians in the postwar era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australian media pundits and popular sociologists write blithely about generations such as the Baby Boomers and Gen X, but what they are really writing about are birth cohorts who share some common life experiences and attitudes but do not necessarily share a generational identity. Drawing upon oral history interviews conducted with 300 Australians, this article argues that while a birth cohort may share historical reference points, it will not necessarily be conscious of itself as a distinctive generation. Generations are forged by dramatic shared experiences and emergent generational awareness in youth. Generational self-consciousness is then fashioned and consolidated in memory by individuals who draw upon collective representations of generational identity in making sense of their lives. This article argues that in post-Second World War Australia there has, thus far, been only one such generation, the so-called ‘60s generation’, and illuminates that argument though a life history case study that also highlights the significance of gender and intergenerational relations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses the role of park music in the culture of the British colony of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia in the late 19th and early 20th century. According to the author, both parks and public music performances were believed to have a beneficial and civilizing influence on residents. Details on conductor Andrew Seal, his leadership of the Brisbane Band, and their performances in the Brisbane Botanic Gardens are presented.

Social research into the daily activities of children is important if we are to understand how children perceive themselves in relationship to their world. Ethically managed social research that allows children to speak as informed and competent subjects is thus vital. However, research regulatory bodies may be more concerned with protecting the privacy of children than facilitating their participation in research projects. In a context where publicly funded researchers are encouraged to make their data available for reuse, the bureaucratisation of the consent and ethics processes may impinge on the conduct and benefits, and the future accessibility, of the research itself. Reflecting on the findings of the Childhood, Tradition and Change research on playlore in Australian primary schools, we argue for a more balanced approach from regulatory authorities between protection and participation in relation to low-risk social research with children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ralph Tate (1840-1901), the foundation Professor of Natural Science at the University of Adelaide, proved to be a remarkable scientist and naturalist with outstanding achievements in several fields. Tate was selected for the Chair in Adelaide, despite having no previous university experience, mainly on the recommendation of T. H. Huxley. This paper examines Tate's background in some detail and establishes that, in fact, as a respected geologist and palaeontologist with interests in conchology and botany, he was particularly well qualified to fill the post. He had had years of teaching practice, a long list of research publications and even experience in exploring new territories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the history of the Mercury Theater in Australia. The theater existed for a short while with legendary performances including its production of "The Imaginary Invalid," starring Peter Finch in 1948. The theater was managed by a German immigrant, John Kay. The theater was formed with a share capital of £10,000 consisting of 10,000 shares at £1 each.